05:30 AEST Mon May 11 2009
By ninemsn staff
A large saltwater crocodile has been stalking one of Darwin’s nudist beaches.
Traps will be set this morning in an effort to catch the crocodile which was spotted by a local ranger at the northern end of Casuarina Beach yesterday, the Northern Territory News reports.
Parks and Wildlife ranger Tom Nichols told the newspaper the predatory reptile was about 2m long.
“It was seen going out the mouth of Sandfly Creek and going out to sea,” he said
“It’s right at the top end of the nudist beach.”
Mr Nichols said the crocodile may have been attracted by the calm waters of the nudist haven.
“It could be hanging around for a little while or maybe just passing through,” he said.
He cautioned the beachgoers to be careful but added he was hopeful the crocodile would be caught.
“We usually get eight out of 10 that we go for, which is not bad,” he said.
“It’s a constant reminder that crocodiles inhabit the Top End — especially when you’ve got such lovely seas like today.”
Pasted from <http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/812140/crocodile-stalks-nudist-beach>
Trap set for nudist beach croc
Posted
6 hours 7 minutes ago
Generic TV still of close-up of head of salt water crocodile, with jaws open in water in far north Qld on November 13, 2008. (ABC TV News – file image)
○ Map:Darwin 0800
○ Related Story:’The crocodile was following us’
A trap will be set at a small creek in Darwin to catch a crocodile that was seen at the city’s nudist beach at the weekend.
The two metre saltwater crocodile was seen yesterday morning by a member of the public and by a ranger at the Casuarina nudist beach.
“It was spotted around about 9 or 10 and then there were no more sightings after that,” ranger Tom Nichols said.
“It was out the mouth of Sandy Creek and moving outwards.
“It was in the water when they spotted it. It wasn’t sunning itself.”
He says rangers will set a trap today.
“A small one may rest up there for a little while because there is a little food source there.
“It is only a very shallow creek there but we will be setting it there.
“I went down there yesterday and checked it out and the rangers checked it out.
“There were no more sightings yesterday so we will be waiting to see what happens today and we’ll be monitoring the situation.”
Tags:
environment,
endangered-and-protected-species,
environmental-management,
human-interest,animals,
australia,
nt,
casuarina-0810,
darwin-0800
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